This disclosure relates to fishing lures. More specifically, this disclosure relates to a bladed lure wherein a common swivel is replaced by one or more link members. As the lure is pulled forward at a generally constant speed, the automatically cycling potential energy of the link members produces alternating clockwise and counterclockwise rotations of a blade member. The cycling blade member rotation in turn helps create a rhythmic twitching motion of the lure.
The construction of a common “spinnerbait” lure is well known. A weighted member and hook are both coupled to a generally V-shaped wire frame. One or more trailing blades are attached to one end the wire frame through a swivel. The swivel allows for unlimited blade rotation as the lure is retrieved, and the blade spins continuously in one rotational direction until lure motion is stopped. All spinnerbaits with hanging blades use swivels to attach such blades to the wire frame in order to allow the blades to freely spin uninterruptedly as the lure moves forward.
Simply attaching a thin trailing object to a lure frame without the use of a swivel has historically resulted in erratic and unpredictable behavior of the trailing object. U.S. Pat. No. 1,787,726 to Heddon, et al., describes a plurality of thin metal minnows non-rotatably linked to a wire frame of the lure. Because no swivels are used, the metal minnows sway and dart randomly as the lure moves through the water. As a result, no cyclical minnow rotation or corresponding twitching of the lure body can occur. Such unpredictable movement is overcome by the lure described herein, which contains no swivels yet generates controlled and cyclically alternating blade rotation coupled with a cyclical twitching motion of the lure.
For the sake of this invention, the term “rotating” is defined as a blade completing at least one full clockwise revolution or at least one complete counterclockwise revolution (360° blade rotation or greater). The terms “oscillating,” “darting, “swaying,” and “fluttering” represent an incomplete revolution of rotation, as these terms are most often used to describe motion in other lures wherein swivels are not used to attach trailing metallic members. When describing a constant speed of forward lure motion, the term “constant” is defined as an angler turning a fishing reel at a generally steady rate of rotation in an attempt to cause the fishing line to pull the lure forward with a generally unchanging speed in water. Said differently, an angler is not deliberately twitching, jerking, or pausing the fishing line. “Constant” lure motion can also be defined as a lure that is being trolled behind a boat moving at a generally steady and unchanging speed.
Research has shown that fish are more responsive to irregular vibrations versus those that are more continuous in nature. A rotating blade on an existing spinner lure emits an unchanging vibration signature as the lure moves a constant speed. Thus, common spinner lures are limited to generally emitting only steady, continuous sounds under water. A spinner lure that could combine the ease of angler retrieval (lure moving at a steady speed) with cyclical blade rotation and rhythmic body twitches (periodic vibrations and impulses, and not continuous ones) would possess significant advantages over traditional spinner lures. Such a lure would create both visual and auditory stimuli that closer mimic the swimming behavior of real life prey. There exists the need for a new and improved type of spinner lure that can simultaneously exhibit rhythmically alternating blade rotations along with cyclical twitch movements when the lure is retrieved at a constant speed.